Instant Pot Gluten-Free Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup will fulfill all those Panera cravings MINUS the gluten!

One of my absolute favorite soups is Broccoli Cheddar Soup and it is my ultimate Panera weakness. Unfortunately, their version isn’t gluten-free so this week I decided to break out my Instant Pot and do a little recipe-testing. Broccoli cheddar soup is one of those cheesy comfort foods that a gluten-free girl can REALLY get behind.

Oh, I should say, if you haven’t hopped on the Instant Pot game yet, I encourage you to JUST GO FOR IT.

Seriously.

It is the best gadget ever and is relied heavily on throughout our week to make fast work of soups, sauces, and tender meat.

If soups are going to be in your Instant Pot rotation too, I highly recommend two tools that will REALLY improve your enjoyment HIGHLY of this gadget.

The first is this type of lid that will make it easier to serve and reheat your soups for family meals.

There is nothing more awkward than trying to open and shut the sealing lid, amiright?

The other thing I absolutely love is this gadget that allows you to store your soup right in the pot in your fridge without any messes or spills.

If you can’t wait to get your pot back for the next meal though, many people also purchase additional inserts so that they can store a soup for their week as well as continue keeping the Instant Pot dishes in their rotation.

You can bet that an additional insert is on MY Christmas list this year.

And while we are on the topic of gadgets, if you haven’t bought one of these yet, it is a workhorse in our kitchen.

I, honestly, can’t imagine making soups or sauces without it…not to mention all that frothing of milk for my lattes at home.

I promise, I only recommend what I really love and TRULY use in our kitchen.

Making gluten-free soups that are thick and creamy can be a challenge. If I can offer any advice, adding this flour to our pantry has replaced a lot of my difficulties with modifying recipes to make them gluten-free. It’s an affordable solution that doesn’t require any master mixing or extra effort. Who couldn’t get behind that?

You will want to take your time though, once you add the flour to your pot, and really work hard to keep stirring and adding that liquid gradually to prevent your soup from being riddled with clumps. It helps to take your time with this element and, remember, you will get that time back thanks to how quickly this cooks in your pressure cooker.

I’m sure it goes without saying that freshly grated cheese will always yield a better dish, but I also live in that whole “ain’t nobody got time for that” mindset on most weeknights.

Plug in and turn on your Instant Pot. Press the Sauté button on the Instant Pot (you want to make sure it is set to Normal) and give it a few minutes to warm up. Add the butter. Once melted, add diced carrots and cook three minutes.

Stir in the garlic and flour. Allow the flour to cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly. Next add a small amount of your vegetable stock, incorporating this in bit by bit while stirring constantly and eliminating any lumps in your soup base.

Hit cancel on your Instant Pot to turn off Sauté function. Add your broccoli in the pot, seal with the lid, and set your Instant Pot to HIGH pressure for 8 minutes.

At the end of your cooking time, do a quick release of pressure and open the lid. Add in your paprika, pinch of nutmeg, and salt to taste.

Stir in cheeses and mix well until it has melted. Add in milk and cream. Taste again to double check your final seasonings.

If you have an immersion blender, you can use it to blend the soup or you can carefully pour half of the soup in a blender and blend it well and add it back to the soup pot.

Serve immediately.

When reheating, you can add additional vegetable stock or milk to thin the soup back out.